Happy New Year!!! Not quite sure where 2021 went? I had high hopes of creating an amazing blog and writing every day about my cooking adventures big and small. Then, June happened, and an opportunity presented itself to change positions within my company. Next thing I knew, it was January 2022! So, let’s start a new year with a new outlook on life and the opportunity to share my take on cooking, life with a 5-year-old, 2 dogs, a husband, and anything else I feel the need to share with anyone reading this!
I grew up with the tradition of eating black-eyed peas, ham, cabbage, okra & tomatoes, and cornbread on New Year’s Day. We would go to my Meme’s or Auntie May’s or stay home and eat all the foods we’ve been told bring us luck and fortune for the year to come. I’ve attempted to carry on the tradition – for the past 16 years (plus or minus a year or two), I’ve gotten up on New Year’s Day, started the ham, then got the collard greens going – both require a bit more cooking than the rest of the fare. I’ve tried making black-eyed peas from scratch, with great success, but the canned seem to do the trick with a few add-ons of bacon and a can of Ro-Tel tomatoes. Various family members and friends have gathered with us to welcome the new year and hope of even better things to come.
Here’s what I did this year:
Pork – represents prosperity and progress – pigs root ahead as they eat, as opposed to backward like chickens or turkeys.
We opted for pork chops in lieu of a ham – we tend to get too much ham and end up eating leftovers for days (which I’m cool with) or freezing the excess – even after sending some home with guests. Todd was picking up Mimi, so I opted to make her recipe for pork chops with apples and raisins. I remember the first time I tried her creation – she had gone to Central Market to pick out the thickest pork chops she could find and boy, was it a magical dish! This is my take and she approved 😉
We found 6 thick-cut chops from Kroger – with my Kroger card, I saved $3+/- for each pack – basically all 6 chops were about $15 – not too shabby!
I dredged them in flour, seasoned with salt & pepper, then I heated some avocado oil in my nifty Le Creuset Dutch oven and browned the chops. Once I felt good about the color of the chops, I removed them and added apple juice to get the yummy bits off the bottom of the pan, then I added the sliced onions. This became the bed for the chops to nestle in for their time in the oven. I added three chops in the bottom, layered some onions on top and then added the remaining three chops. I then added sliced apples, raisins, a splash or two of apple cider vinegar, chicken broth and more apple juice. I covered the dish and placed in a 350 F oven for about 4 hours – I knocked the temperature down to 275 F halfway through.
The end result was pretty magical and the chop fell off the bone! Stay tuned for the finished pic – there’s more food to talk about!
Collard Greens – represent wealth
I grew up eating cabbage on this day, usually in the form of cole slaw. My family wasn’t a big fan of cabbage unless it was sauerkraut or cole slaw. When I began my cooking adventures at the start of my relationship with Todd, I wanted to take on collard greens. I researched every way to cook them and finally landed on this – cut the stems off and discard, cut the leaves in bite size pieces, wash, and dry. I usually place a few paper towls in a dish towel, spread out the greens and roll them up, place them in the fridge until the next day when it’s time cook them. To cook them, I fry bacon pieces in the pan, remove the bacon and add onions or a mirepoux, I like the one found in the frozen section of Kroger. Cook the onion/mirepoux until transluscent then start adding the greens – just like spinach or kale, the greens will start to wilt down. Unlike spinach, the greens need a bit more time to become tender. Once all of the greens have wilted down a bit, I add salt, pepper, Texas Pete’s pepper sauce, and chicken broth – let simmer for a few hours or until the greens are tender.
Black-Eyed Peas – represent coins, luck, or the promise of prosperity.
I’m a fan of the can – I use Trappey’s Blackeye Peas flavored with slab bacon. I usually do two cans of regular plus one can of jalapeno blackeye peas plus one can of Ro-tel Tomatoes. I couldn’t find the jalapeno version, so I did two regular cans plus a can of Ro-Tel Tomatoes. But before adding any of the canned goodness, I fried up some bacon pieces – this was my stovetop at the start of the homage to the pig:
After rendering the bacon down to crispy morsels, I added the black-eyed peas and tomatoes – then let it simmer on the stove for a few hours.
Okra & Tomatoes – represent a food we’ve eaten on this day for as long as I can remember. Not sure if it is for wealth, prosperity, or luck, but it is a reminder of my family – maybe that’s what makes this dish lucky –memories of family.
I totally wing this recipe – mainly because the recipe I wrote, based on my mom’s, has absolutely no technique written, only ingredients. I love when I think I’m going to remember the details of something without writing it all down.
Here’s what I did – in the right pan pictured above – after frying the bacon to crispy goodness, I removed the bacon and added some of the mirepoix and cooked to translucent. Then I added frozen okra – cooking until thawed and the okra started to get goopy (technical term). When the okra has reached the goopy stage, add a can of diced tomatoes. If the mixture is soupy, add some tomato paste to thicken – today, I added a packet of Whataburger Spicy Ketchup – why? Because I had it and it seemed like the thing to do!
Cornbread – represents gold – Eating it brings with it the hope of extra spending money in the new year.
I use Jiffy corn muffin mix – nothing fancy, follow the directions on the box and voila – corn muffins!
Here’s the final plate – sans the corn muffin (I ate two).
Here’s hoping the symbolism works! Cheers to 2022 and the new adventures and good change headed our way!!
New Years Day on a Plate! – yes, more please.